Insulating mounting for bar conductor



NOV. 17, 1959 LE 2,913,516

INSULATING MOUNTING FOR BAR CONDUCTOR Filed Feb. 25, 1957 INVENTOR.

MALCOLM T. BLEASE A T TORNE Y United States Patent 2,913,516 INSULATING MOUNTING FOR BAR CONDUCTOR Malcolm T. Blease, Saunderstown, R.I., assignor to Grinnell Corporation, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Delaware Application February 25, 1957, Serial No. 642,149 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-111 This invention relates to an insulating mount and mount assembly for an electrical conductor and more particularly to a joint between an electrical conductor and a mounting block of insulating material upon which the conductor is mounted. The conductor is a bar and the insulating mount is provided with abutments whereby the conductor can at any point along its length be afiixed to the mounting block.

This invention finds application in any instance wherein an electrical bar conductor is to be mounted and exhibits particular utility in installations where the conductor supplies power to a brush carried by an electrical mechanism moving parallel to the conductor. As an example of this latter use, the conductors may be mounted on an overhead trackway on which an electrical mechanism is traveling, this mechanism being supplied with power by brushes engaging the conductors.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved joint between an electrical bar conductor and an insulating mounting block therefor.

It is another object of this invention to provide a joint between a bar conductor and an insulating mounting block wherein no modification of the conductor or separate fasteners are necessary to secure the conductor to the block.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an insulating mount comprising an insulating block having a slot therein and a lip which extends over a portion of a bar conductor when the bar conductor is inserted in the slot and rotated with respect to the block.

It is another object of this invention to provide a bar conductor and insulating mounting block therefor wherein the conductor is of channel shaped cross section having two leg portions and a connecting bight portion and wherein the block has a slot which receives one leg of the channeled shaped conductor and wherein the block also has a lip which enters between the two leg portions when the one conductor leg is inserted in the slot and the conductor is rotated with respect to the block.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the description which is to follow.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a mounting block of electrical insulating material with a slot extending across one of its sides, the view being taken from the wide end of the slot.

Fig. 2 is a view like Fig. 1 and showing an elongated electrical conductor of channel-shaped cross-section in the position it assumes just after it is inserted in the slot.

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2 and showing the conductor in its final position in the slot after having been rotated in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 4 is a top view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 10 denotes a mounting block of electrical insulating material. The

Patented Nov. 17, 1959 mounting block is adapted to be secured to some supporting structure, and since the precise manner of securing the block to such structure is immaterial as far as this invention is concerned, it will not be herein described. A slot '12, wider at one end than the other, is provided across a side of the block and has a bottom surface 14. This slot also has walls 16 and 18 which are substantially perpendicular to the side of the mounting. An overhanging lip portion 20 is provided on the wall 18 and extends toward the opposite wall 16. This lip portion is located at the widest end of the slot 14, gradually merges back into the wall 18 and disappears completely at the narrowest end of the slot. Preferably the face 21 of the lip is parallel to the opposite slot wall 16.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings an electrical conductor 22 of channel-shaped cross-section is shown having leg portions 24 and a bight portion 26 defining an elongated channel groove 28. The conductor 22 is placed in the slot 12 until the outer surface of one of its leg portions touches the bottom 14 of slot 12. The conductor 22 is then turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 until it assumes the position shown there. In this latter position, the underside of the lip 20 snugly engages the inner face of the leg portion which is in the slot, and the upperside of the lip snugly engages the inner face of the other leg portion.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate, in plan view, the insertion procedure shown in the Figs. 2 and 3, respectively.

The insulating block 10 may be made of any desired material which is a satisfactory electrical insulator but preferably, for a good mechanical joint, the block is made of a material which is somewhat deformable, and the thickness of the lip 20 is made slightly larger than the width of the channel groove 28 so that the lip 20 fits snugly in this groove.

In elfecting the above described assembly one of the conductor leg portions 24 is pushed down into the slot between the side 16 and the face 21 of the lip 20. This will place the conductor in the slot 12 in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Then the conductor is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 3.

The joint herein described exhibits, aside from its simplicity, the advantage that it may be made at any point along the length of the conductor. Thus the insulating blocks may be mounted at any desired points on a suitable supporting structure and the conductor then joined to the blocks.

I claim:

An insulating mount assembly comprising: a block of insulating material having a slot extending across one side thereof, the slot having first and second diverging walls substantially perpendicular to the said side of the block; an overhanging lip on said first wall spaced from the narrower end of said slot and extending toward said second wall; an elongated electrical conductor of channel-shaped cross-section within the slot, the base of the channel conductor extending at right angles to the said side of the block and the said overhanging lip extending between and snugly engaging both opposed inner sides of the legs of the channel conductor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 318,411 Banta May 19, 1885 2,436,590 Moore Feb. 24, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 890,754 France Nov. 19, 1943 

